Caffeine will do it every time.
Caffeine is my drug of choice, can’t start a day without it. What about you?
This photomicrograph of pure caffeine gives you a visual idea of how it prods us awake.
I like my coffee full-bodied, rich and strong, kind of how I’d like my man. A bit of evaporated milk and sugar and I’m in heaven. My morning ritual is to begin the pot dripping before I do anything else. For years now I’ve purchased only fair trade organic beans yet only recently in watching a TV documentary did I learn the difference.
We in the US consume the most coffee in the world. Yet the people who grow and produce the coffee we love, most often work under grueling conditions, like slaves living in poverty even if they own their small coffee farms. Fair Trade guarantees that both the farmers are protected and the consumer knows that the coffee we drink was grown and purchased under fair and socially responsible conditions
Fair Trade involves the following principles (from www.globalexchange.org):
- Producers receive a fair price – a living wage.
- Forced labor and exploitative child labor are not allowed
- Buyers and producers trade under direct long-term relationships
- Producers have access to financial and technical assistance
- Sustainable production techniques are encouraged and taught, like shade grown, organic
- Working conditions are healthy and safe
- Equal employment opportunities are provided for all
- All aspects of trade and production are open to public accountability
The Fair Trade system benefits more than 800,000 farmers (not just coffee farmers) organized into cooperatives and unions in 48 countries. Fair Trade helps farmers provide for their families’ basic needs and invests in community development; however, farmers still sell most of their crop outside of this system because not enough companies buy at Fair Trade prices.
Your support of Fair Trade certified products makes a real difference for small-scale producers! Buy only fair traded coffee, chocolate, and crafts. Get informed and enjoy your coffee and chocolate even more when you know how it got to you.